A Reason To Hate
by MadnessinmyMethod
Summary: There is a reason that Ozai hates Zuko and it is the secret of one woman who made a mistake at a desperate time. Zuko is not Ozai's son. Follow the story of a woman, a man, and a mistake. Angstridden. T for scandalous themes, but not explicit.


**This idea popped into my head when I was in the shower one morning. I hope you like it. I was debating about whether to post it for a long time.**

It had only been one year since Ozai and Ursa were married. That was when Prince Iroh's wife died. She had been a wonderful woman and Iroh had loved her very much. They had only one son together, Lu Ten. Lu Ten was a boy with promise. He worked hard and was a skilled individual. Lu Ten was like his mother. Ozai and Ursa had no children. People secretly whispered that Ursa must be barren. And they expected no less from the second son.

Iroh had been distraught when his wife died. His son was away at school and he had no one to console him. Or so he thought…

It had been a bad night for Ursa. She and Ozai had fought again. She'd taken refuge from his temper in the palace library. Ozai thought books were worthless unless they helped him defeat someone. Ursa loved them. So did Iroh. When she stepped into the vast library, she was not alone.

Iroh looked up from the small novel he was reading to take his mind off things. "Hello, Ursa."

"Oh, Iroh, I didn't know you were here," Ursa said, turning toward the door so that he might read in peace.

"It's ok," Iroh said. "It wasn't that great a read," he added, indicating the thin volume.

"Oh," Ursa repeated.

"Are you alright?" Iroh asked, picking up on her anxiety.

"I'm, well I'm not fine, but I guess I will be alright. I suppose I just need a moment," Ursa blurted. She could feel the color rising in her cheeks.

"Did you and my brother fight again?" Iroh asked knowingly.

Ursa flopped down in one of the red armchairs. "Yes, I don't know what to do."

Iroh reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. He's always had a temper," he said. "It's not fair, but it's who he is."

Ursa looked up at him. "I shouldn't be dumping this all on you," she said quickly. "I mean…" She trailed off. She didn't want to name the tragic subject she was alluding to.

Iroh shook his head. "I don't like to think about it," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Ursa apologized. "I shouldn't even have said…"

"Forget about it," Iroh advised.

A long silence echoed in the library. They just looked at each other. Iroh was older than her, but not by a lot, a decade maybe. His hair wasn't even close to grey yet. Ursa looked away. She'd been staring, but so had he.

"What were you reading?" she asked finally.

"_Ethoc Fromo_," Iroh replied.

"Oh, it's supposed to be a good book," Ursa said. "I haven't read it yet."

"It's depressing," Iroh said.

"What's it about again?"

"There's a man who lives out in an isolated town in the mountains. His wife, Zeena, has gone mad and he has to care for her, but he's in love with his wife's cousin, Matta Silva."

"Do they end up together?" Ursa asked.

"I haven't gotten to that part yet," Iroh admitted.

"Oh," Ursa said again.

"But supposedly it's a tragedy," Iroh added.

Ursa nodded. "All the classics are it seems."

"Yes, it seems all the books I ever read in school were about people with horrific hardships," Iroh said.

"Perhaps they want to instill the idea of triumph over hardships in the youth," Ursa suggested.

"Perhaps," Iroh said, stroking the thin beard on his chin.

Ursa noticed that the light in the library was getting dim. The sun was setting and the shadows along the shelves were growing. "We ought to light some lamps," she said, rising to her feet. She took careful aim at the oil lamps along the walls and sent tiny sparks flying from her fingertips.

"A bit daring in the library aren't we?" Iroh said smiling.

"I have good aim," Ursa replied, smiling back.

"I've never seen better," Iroh said.

Ursa blushed. "Thank you." She strode over to the long bookcases. She did after all come here to find something to read. Her stomach fluttered ever so slightly when she realized that Iroh had followed her. She turned. "What?" she asked.

"I was going to point you in the direction of some excellent novels I read last week," he said. "They're down at that end of the shelf," he continued, pointing. "I'll show you."

Ursa nodded and followed him. Iroh bent down to the bottom shelf. "The good books are always so low," he said laughing.

Ursa chuckled and knelt down with him. "I can't see anything down here," she said.

Iroh lit a small flame in his palm. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes."

Iroh ran a finger down the line of books then settled on a medium-sized volume at the end of the shelf. It was dark black and had gold letters printed on the spine. Iroh drew it out and handed it to her. "_Guru's Pathik's Guide To Cosmic Energy_," she read aloud.

"It's a good book," Iroh said. "It's science fiction. Do like science fiction?"

"I do."

"You'll love it then," he said, smiling widely.

Ursa smiled back at him. "Thank you," she said. She looked him full in the eyes for the first time since she entered the library. He had nice eyes, much kinder than his brother's. Ursa mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't be thinking such things about her husband's brother. "Um…"

Iroh looked at the woman standing before him. She was nervous, terribly so. She deserved better than his brother. He could see she had a good soul. "Are you alright?" he asked for the second time that afternoon.

"Um, just tired I think," he heard her reply.

Iroh put a hand on her shoulder. She was a tiny thing really. "Maybe you should sit down," he heard himself say.

"Okay," she said, but she didn't move. Neither did he. They stared at each other. For how long, neither of them knew. "Iroh," she began, but she didn't finish her sentence.

"You're beautiful," Iroh said. "My brother doesn't deserve you."

"You shouldn't say things like that," Ursa said weakly.

"But it's true. Ursa, I…"

"I'm married," she said.

"I don't think I care."

"Your wife is dead," she added.

"I know."

The book clattered to the floor as Iroh leaned in and kissed her. Ursa didn't resist. Iroh ran his fingers through her hair. It felt like he had lost his ability to feel and now it was all coming back to him as he kissed her there. Iroh pulled away to breath again.

"What if we get caught?" Ursa whispered.

"It's a big palace," Iroh said, feeling ten years younger. "Go to the top floor greenhouse after dinner," he told her. He looked her in the eyes. "Please?"

Ursa pulled herself out of his grasp. She looked at him. "Okay."

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

Two weeks later, Ursa discovered that she was pregnant. Her fights with Ozai then ceased, but she knew that it was not his child. Ursa cried a lot and at the most random times, but no one attributed it to anything more than mood swings. Iroh watched her oddly. She had not spoken with him since their one night together so long ago. Weeks passed and it seemed like fate had conspired to keep them apart. At least until one night, when most everyone else had gone to sleep, Ursa crept from her bedroom and slipped into the library.

Iroh was seated in one of the armchairs, a new book resting in his large hands. He looked up as she entered.

"What ever happened in _Ethoc Fromo_?" she asked.

"Ethoc's wife decided that she wanted to send Matta away. Ethoc and Matta realized they loved each other and attempted to commit suicide, by crashing a sled into a tree. They nearly died, but ended up crippled for the rest of their lives," Iroh told her.

"Did they live happily ever after?" Ursa asked.

"No. They were miserable," Iroh said.

Ursa held up the book Iroh had suggested to her long ago. "I finished reading it. It's great with the hormones raging too," she said, making a vain attempt to smile.

"Yes," Iroh said. "Congratulations."

"It's not his," Ursa blurted.

"How do you—"

"I just know. It's your child."

Iroh blinked at her. "Mine?"

She nodded. "I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing we can do," Iroh said, his voice pained. "You're married to my brother. You have to say it's his."

"You would give that up?"

"I would for you, and for our child."

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

Nine months later, Ursa gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Zuko. Ozai was proud and bragged to everyone he met. Iroh held a secret pride. He could never be a father to Zuko, but he would protect him as an uncle. It was the best he could do.

Iroh came to visit Ursa in the Healing Wing of the palace late at night after all her visitors had gone. Ursa was resting with Zuko, holding the small boy in her arms. She smiled when she saw Iroh approaching. "He's beautiful," she said.

Iroh smiled down at the boy. "Yes, he is."

"Would you like to hold him?"

Iroh took Zuko into his arms. Zuko looked up at him with large yellow eyes. "He looks like you," he said.

"Really? Everyone keeps saying he looks like Fire Lord Azulon."

"No, he looks like you."

Ursa smiled. "Thank you."

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

Ursa had another child a year later. This one she knew was her husband's. They named her Azula after the Fire Lord. Ozai seemed to love his daughter more than Zuko. Ursa did not know why, for all Ozai knew, Zuko was his son.

As she watched Zuko grow older she saw more and more of Iroh in him. Iroh was his favorite uncle. He loved the man. But Iroh had gone away to war. Azulon had made him a general. Iroh was leading the siege on the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. He had been gone for months. Iroh sent letters and gifts to them all the time. Ursa loved to read his letters. She missed him, for he had become a good friend to her.

Zuko was only seven or eight when that fateful day came. Iroh's letter arrived telling them that he would be coming home. His son, Lu Ten, had been killed during the battle. Ozai quickly gathered his family together. He wanted an audience with the Fire Lord. He wanted to make Azulon take away Iroh's birthright now that he had no sons.

Ursa and her children were quickly sent away when the discussion turned to Iroh. Ursa retreated to the library, unaware that her children had stayed behind to eavesdrop. She stumbled upon them later. Azula was tormenting Zuko. She seemed to have a great mean streak and Ursa took her away for a talking to.

When she returned to her husband that evening he was pacing and she was worried. Azula told her that she had stayed to overhear the Fire Lord and her father. Supposedly, Azulon had commanded that Ozai must kill his own son, meaning Zuko. Iroh couldn't lose two sons. It was cruel.

Ozai ceased to pace when she entered. "Tell me it isn't true. Tell you that you won't kill Zuko," she said.

"The Fire Lord says that I must suffer as Iroh has for asking to be put next in line for the throne. He says I must kill my own son," Ozai said quickly.

Ursa's face contorted with rage. "You selfish bastard. I will not let you hurt Zuko."

"I will do what I want with my son!" he yelled.

"HE'S NOT YOUR SON!" she bellowed back.

"What do you mean by that, woman?" Ozai hissed.

"He's Iroh's son," she said venomously.

"You little whore," Ozai seethed.

"I won't let you hurt him," Ursa said defiantly.

"I wasn't going to. My father's reign has lasted long enough. I was going to kill him, but now you are." Ursa opened her mouth to protest, but Ozai cut her off. "You'll do it or I will kill both you and Zuko."

"And what happens after I kill the Fire Lord?" Ursa asked.

"You will disappear. They will find a will that names me his successor and I will become Fire Lord," Ozai said.

"And what of my son?"

"I'll let him live, maybe even live to fill my shoes."

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

Ursa wrote a letter to Iroh to be left in his room for when he came back. She told him what had happened and why she had to go. She asked him to look out for Zuko and told him she was sorry.

Before she fled from the palace, Ursa stopped in Zuko's room. "Everything I have done, I have done for you," she told her half sleeping son. "Never forget who you are."

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

When Zuko was fourteen he made a dangerous mistake. He had convinced his Uncle to let him go into the war chambers. Iroh had told him not to say anything, but Zuko forgot. He yelled at the general who suggested a plan that involved the sacrifice of new recruits to the Fire Nation Army. Worst of all, he didn't apologize. Poor Zuko did not understand. He might have insulted the general, but he had offended the one person who did not have his best interests at heart. He offended the Fire Lord.

Honor was an important matter in the Fire Nation. There was only one way to resolve such a dispute, a fire duel called an Agni Kai. Zuko had accepted the challenge thinking he was facing the general, but when he arrived in the arena, he was confronted by Ozai.

Ozai had been waiting for a moment like this. Ever since he had discovered that Zuko was not his true son, his pride had been wounded. He had waited years for revenge and now, he was about to get it. Zuko had fallen to his knees, begging for mercy. Ozai burned him, leaving a long scar across the left side of the boy's face.

"You have dishonored yourself, Zuko," Ozai told him as the boy wept. "You must go. You will not be able to return unless you bring me the Avatar." Ozai turned and left the arena. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his brother climbing over the arena wall to Zuko, but there was nothing to be done about that. The boy would never be back and with any luck, Iroh would go with him.

**Tragedy...Tragedy...**

Ozai stared up at Zuko. He was lying on the floor bleeding to death. Zuko stared back at him. His face was grim. "You never treated me like a son," Zuko was saying. "You never acted like my father."

"Because I wasn't," Ozai gasped. Zuko's sword had ripped across his chest and his breathing was labored. "Iroh is your father. Your mother was a whore."

"Don't talk about her like that," Zuko ordered, barely processing the first thing his father had said.

"Azula is your half-sister," Ozai continued. "And you're a bastard."

"And you're a dead man," Zuko said.

On cue the light faded from Ozai's eyes. He grew still except for the blood that leaked from his wounds.

Zuko breathed deeply and set Ozai's body on fire. As the flesh burned, Zuko turned around to face Iroh. "You're my father?" he asked, feeling dizzy.

Iroh nodded.

Zuko remembered what his mother had said the last time he saw her. _Everything I have done, I have done for you. Never forget who you are. _"I never really knew who I was," he said softly.

"No one does," Iroh said. "I'm sorry I could never tell you. It was the way your mother wanted things."

"Is she alive?"

"Somewhere."

_Everything I have done, I have done for you. Never forget who you are. _

**Hmm… that came out better than I expected. Ethoc Fromo is the Avatared version of Ethan Frome. Really depressing book by Edith Warthon. Just finished reading. The Guru Pathik one's title is based off Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. My friend told me to change them because they weren't very Avatary. Hope you enjoyed this. Please review.**


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